"Hope in GOD!"

Psalms 42:9-11                          (ESV)

"9 I say to GOD, my rock: "Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" 

10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, "Where is your GOD?" 

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? "Hope in GOD"; for I shall again praise HIM, my salvation and my GOD."

We all have those days, days when everything just seems to be in a funk, where a cloud of despair and hopelessness hangs over out very lives, over everything we do.  Why is it that everyday can't be full of sunshine and joy?  Why don't we relish the good times when they are here as much as we dread the bad times when they are on the horizon?  

To recognize our 'adversary', our enemy, the one who is the great deceiver, who robs us of joy and peace is an essential portion of being a child of GOD.  In Genesis 3 some translations of the Bible describes satan as the most crafty, most deceitful, or as the biggest trickster GOD had made!  He generally attempts to camouflage his evilness as something with a hint of "good" and he is pretty good at his antics!  His desire is to be godlike, but his attempts ALWAYS fall woefully short!  

King David was a man after GOD's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14)!  Was he perfect.......NO!  King David had several encounters with the great deceiver in his life where he failed to identify the enemy until the enemy had a stronghold in his life.  One thing King David was seemingly always able to do was, even in the darkest of times, was to "Hope in GOD"!  No matter how much the enemy pursued and hassled him, David always knew his "Hope in GOD" would be enough to sustain him.  

When we get anxious and overly concerned about things going on in our lives, we need to slow down and remember to "Hope in GOD"!  When we have to attend a funeral of a dear friend we should always cling to "Hope in GOD"!  When the enemy is masquerading even as an "Angel of Light" (2 Corinthians 11:4) we should "Hope in GOD"!  The trials and turmoils of "this world" will undoubtedly attempt to bring fear and doubt into our lives, but JESUS says in Mark 11:22-24 to "have faith in GOD"!  HE's got this........., "Hope in GOD"!!